After another historic week at the 2019 NCAA Men’s Championships last week, Indiana University men’s swimming and diving swept the yearly Big Ten Awards, the conference office announced on Monday.
IU head swimming coach Ray Looze was named Big Ten Men’s Swimming Coach of the Year, while Drew Johansen was named Big Ten Men’s Diving Coach of the Year. Vini Lanza was named Big Ten Swimmer of the Year, while Andrew Capobianco was named Big Ten Diver of the Year.
Both Looze and Johansen earned their respective honors for the second-straight season. The award for Looze gives him his fifth Big Ten Men’s Coach of the Year accolade and 10 total for his career including his five women’s coach of the year honors. Johansen earned his third career Big Ten Coach of the Year award.
Last week, the Hoosiers posted back-to-back top-3 finishes at the NCAA Championships for the first time in 44 years. Over the course of the week, Indiana won a total of four NCAA championships (400 Medley Relay, 100 Butterfly, 100 Breaststroke, 3-Meter Dive), matching the program’s total from 2018. The top-10 finish for the Hoosiers is the seventh in the last eight seasons.
For the fourth-straight season, Indiana finished as the top Big Ten team at the NCAA Championships – the best stretch for IU since accomplishing the feat for 15-straight seasons from 1964-78.
In February, Looze and Johansen helped guide the Hoosiers to a third-straight Big Ten Championship for the first time 34 years. The team title was the 27th in program history.
For the week, IU won a total of 24 medals – 14 gold, seven silver and three bronze. Indiana also won four of the five relays at the Big Ten Championships for a second-straight year – a program first.
Lanza ended his illustrious Indiana career with a great showing at the NCAA Championships, winning two championships. Lanza won the 100 butterfly NCAA title for the first time in his career with a Big Ten and school record time of 44.37.
The senior was also a member of the gold-medal winning 400 medley relay team for IU, along with Gabriel Fantoni, Ian Finnerty and Zach Apple. The group win the NCAA crown with a Big Ten, school and pool record time of 2:59.70. Lanza also won silver in the 200 butterfly.
Over the course of the week at the NCAA Championships, the senior earned six All-America honors, giving him a staggering 21 for his career.
At the Big Ten Championships, Lanza made history by being named Big Ten Swimmer of the Championships for a third-straight year, becoming the first swimmer in league history to accomplish the feat. Lanza won titles in the 200 IM, 200 butterfly, 200 freestyle relay, 800 freestyle relay and 400 medley relay, along with two silver medals.
Capobianco won the program’s first NCAA Championship in the 3-meter dive in 38 years last week, taking the gold with a total score of 461.65. The performance gave Capobianco a fourth All-America honor for his career.
After an opening round dive of 83.30 to take the lead, Capobianco distanced himself from the field with a nearly perfect second-round dive. On his forward four-and-a-half somersault tuck, Capobianco scored an amazing 100.70. After the field tried to close in on the sophomore in the third and fourth rounds, Capobianco came through with two clutch final dives, posting scores of 71.75 and 88.40 to clinch the title.
At the Big Ten Championships, he earned Second-Team All-Big Ten honors after winning silver in both the 1-meter and 3-meter dives. Capobianco also took fourth overall at Big Ten’s in the platform dive.
